A slice of heaven
by umatsukai
Summary: A Young girl who is tring to find her way in life and her many trials throught it....Please reveiw and tell me what you think....; }


Deep down in a great dark wooded area, a tiny fire lights the ground around it. On a log facing the fire sits a young woman who is poking the fire with the stick. She seemed to be caught up in the burning ashes that some how found an escape from the fire. The flames reached for the trees and seemed to engulf them in the darkness of the night. About five yards from the woman stood a large horse who seems to be content eating its fill on the luscious clover that had taken over the small opening in the dense forest. He seems to be barely be moving except for his mouth which pulls at the grass and his tail which swishes at the flys that land on his back every so often.

"Shadow...I hope that we get there soon. I dout that we can keep hiding for very long from those stupid guards." She said without taking her eyes from the fire. She could feel the heat from the fire on her face and the oncoming night cold on her back. The wind seemed to be picking up and she felt her short hair graze her ear and her cheek making her shiver. She pulled the strand behind her ear, which was in vain because it only fell over her ear to her cheek again. She wasn't used to having short hair, previous to her arrival to her current place she decided to change her appearance to keep her pursuers from finding her. ' I miss my old hairstyle,' She thought as she pulled the strand in front over her eyes to examine it, 'and my old hair color as well...'

She could still picture herself all dressed up in her beautiful kimono that her mother gave her for her coming-out party. Bright baby blue with a beautiful banzai tree and rocks with little butterflies flying around them. She would leave her hair down because she liked to hear all the villagers tell her how beautiful she looked. She could still hear them now," Miss Ima, you look so lovely today.", " Oh, Miss Ima, would you tell me your beauty secrets?" It was quite long and shiny down to her mid-thigh. All of the villagers would allways compliment her as she rode by on Shadow with her hair flowing long and beautiful behind her. They seemed to think that she would forget how long and beautiful it was, so the reminded her every day. Plus out of all of the village she was the only person who had red hair.

' Now to look at it...short....SHORT...and plus not even my beautiful color...just this dirty ugly yellow...' She frowned as she tried again to fold the strand behind her ear. During her day dreaming Shadow had made his way over to her and began sniffing her hair. He began to grab at it with his lips and making a smacking sound. He managed to pull some of her hair out. When he did so she turned abruptly flipping her hair into his nose, which made him sneeze right in her face when she turned to look at him. She wiped away the wetness and pushed Shadows head away playfully. "Gross !" she exclaimed.

He sniffed the ground and twirled a couple times, looking for objects that might disturb while he slept. He decided to lay down, finding nothing of great importance. She got the idea that he wanted to sleep so she stood and stretched with her arms over her head. She turned around and lifted the log she was sitting on and tossed it to the hungry blaze of fire. Reaching over to her pile of stuff she retrieved Shadows saddle blanket and opened it to its full capacity. Shadow had made himself comfortable with his neck and limbs outstretched over the ground. Ima found a nice comfortable spot to lay her head on Shadow's neck, and fell into a light tattered sleep that made her twist and turn.

Finally, the sun rose over the horizon to save Ima from her nightmare world, where she was kept prisoner by the torment of her memories. Her hair was a mess from her movements. She sat up to find that Shadow had not once moved from his spot under her head, and was yet still asleep. Once Ima had folded her blanket and layed it next to her saddle, she decided to go find a spring. She kneeled down beside shadow and pulled his foot. " Gooooood morn'in, " Ima said in a low tone. " Shadow...," he still didn't stir. "SHADOW..." she said getting on top of him and poked his eyelid. Shadow's ear turned in Ima's direction, but she pretended she didn't notice. He stood up in a flash and to his surprise Ima had stayed put. " You cant get rid of me that easy..." She said holding onto his long thick mane. He seemed to had taken that as a challenge and began to buck making her twist and turn and yet not to his prevail. He noticed that she wasn't going to get off easily. So he stopped and turned his head until he could see her. She had both feet on one side and was about to jump off when he laid down again, flipping her over back wards. She, being caught of guard, managed to catch his mane and pull her feet over her head just in time before he pined her to the ground.

" AHHHHHH... you are a Worthy opponent, I give my kudos to you..." Ima said taking off her pretend hat and bowing low in front of Shadow, using her terrible French accent. He had gotten up and turned in her direction. He blew out his nose and shook violently. Dust flew in every direction when he did so." I'm going to find a spring...want to tag along?" Shadow had begun grazing on the soft clover at his feet and pretended he hadn't heard her. "Well then i will take that as a "No"..." Ima said pushing her hair back behind her ears.

Ima went off to the edge of the clearing and turned to check on Shadow before she went to the spring. She shook her head at how over protective she was acting, he was well able to take care of himself from wild animals and the clearing was a good mile from any road that was traveled by officers. Ima had remembered seeing a spring on her way to the clearing and hoped she hadn't forgotten where she saw it at. She ended up having to turn a few times and finally got there by following a racoon's foot prints. She took off her bag and head band. She kneeled down on a rock beside the spring and washed her face with the cool fresh water. She totally submersed her head in the water and flipped her hair over back-wards giving a spritz to the trees behind her. She wiped her face off and rung out her hair. She leaned over the water and made a cup with her hand. She drank until she felt that her stomach would burst. The water was so fresh and clean that she felt no trouble dwelling within her mind. Only did they return when she saw the scar on her hand as she bent down for another drink of water. She paused and looked at the jagged scar that found its way from one side of her wrist to the other.

She could remember her reason for her sudden fret of not wanting to live. 4 months in the past.

Ima was sitting quietly in her kitchen. She was waiting for her mother and her two servants to return with the groceries. Ima looked at the table and traced the grain with her fingers. She became very impatient and stood up to find a snack in the pantry. She grabbed an orange off of the basket which was hanging from the ceiling. She went over to the many drawers in the kitchen and began searching for a knife. She found one and took it and the orange to the sink. Her long hair trailed behind her. Out of the blue, a large man with a drunken face stepped into the kitchen. He slid the door behind him until it shut violently. Ima looked up to see her father his hair was a mess and he had a slip of paper in his hand. " Father!! What were you doing? Why are you...." Ima turned and walked to ward her father with her hands out in front of her ready to catch him. Though because of his heft she doubted she would be able to catch him let alone hold him up. He sat down in front of the table and brought his fist down violently on its surface. Ima jumped at his sudden violence. "Father why are you so happy....?" Ima said noticing his broad smile. I have great news for you my young daughter. I have found a husband for you." Ima's face turned pale..." What are you talking about...hehehe...surely you are just making fun of me...I do not wish to have a husband." her father looked at her with a large frown " I HAVE FOUND YOU A HUSBAND AND THIS IS THE THANKS I GET....????!!!" Ima found herself cowering under her fathers bulk as he pinned her to the corner of the room. She felt her heart jump as she was being lifted off of the ground by her hair. She screamed at the sudden pain in her head. "I have been offered a great deal for your hand in marriage. And YOU WILL GO. " He let her go and she fell to the ground. "And for you back-sass I have found a person who will pay a great deal for your horse." Ima wretched. She looked up with tears in her eyes. "No please don't he is mine...please..." Ima said looking him in the eye. "Impertinent girl...." He yelled slapping her across the face.

She felt angered at the thought of her father and punched the rock she was sitting on, blood ran painlessly down Ima's knuckles. Over her head was a red bird that seemed to watch with fiery eyes, it squawked and bobbed its head moving its feet from side to side. Ima had been pulled out of her trance by the birds squawk and she stood quickly. She turned with speed that made the bird flinch. When Ima saw what it was she loosened up. Then she took in the actual beauty of the animal. It was two times larger than she was and it was a breed of bird that she had never even seen before. Ima made sure to keep an eye on the bird as she went back to what she was doing. She took out her Canteen and filled it with the spring water. She knelt down and took another drink before she headed back. She looked around her as if she was looking for something. But took it off her mind for she did not know what she was looking for.

Ima stood and put her pack over her shoulder, giving no mind to the bird behind her. As she walked she picked up sticks and brush to start up the fire when she got back. She walked until she could see the clearing. She shifted the bundle in her arms and sighed at the thought of what she had to do. While she was still walking she looked for Shadow. Her gaze scanned what she could see of the clearing. Once she got to the clearing she noticed that Shadow wasn't anywhere in sight. "Shadow....Shadow...where are you?" Ima ran to the burned out ashes that once was the fire from the night before. She let her bundle of fire wood collapse to the burnt ground. "Shadow, where are you....???" she said as the twisted in a circle catching no glimpse of her treasured friend.

She picked up her sword which she left by the fire and tied it to her belt. She looked around for signs of struggle and horse prints. All the ones that she found gave her reason to leave in search of her horse, with hast. She ran not worrying about the pile of wood or her things as well as shadows tack. Ima had been running for a while and hadn't seen any sign of Shadow except for his prints as well as one other horse's prints. ' Had I been gone so long that they can get this far away from me?' She thought as she turned a sharp corner to quickly and had to slide with her hands until she scraped them on the ground violently. She stopped for she had lost all track of her horse, but managed to find a small broken twig leading into the deep and dangerous part of the woods. She heard a loud scream kind of like a kettle whistle and Ima knew immediately that her horse was very near. Ima had lost her breathe and walked silently toward a large tree. She grabbed a long vine that went up the tree and spanned out to other trees, and climbed up. She looked down to see a young, slim looking guy who seemed to have fallen off of his horse. Shadow was prancing around the tree Ima was in and looked up to find Ima standing quietly there. He gave off his whistle again and reared up on his hind legs, setting his knees against the tree trunk. The guy sat up and rubbed his arm violently. He stood and walked over to his horse who was grazing in the distance.

Ima looked at Shadow who had a rough rope around his neck. Under the rope Ima could see that Shadow was bleeding from the roughness of it, which seemed to rub violently. Ima felt she had no reason to fear the boy so she jumped down out of the tree and stood so that she was in front of shadow. The boy had retrieved his horse and had turned to reveal a very young face which had a long scar that traced his neck. His facial expressions were very prominent and Ima could tell he was surprised to see her.

"You stole my horse..." Ima said as he looked at the way Shadow had calmed down. Shadow had a quiet look to his eye and he had his head low and obedient to Ima's every move. Ima turned around to take off the rope around shadow's neck. Shadow kept his head lowered so that Ima could remove the rope. She grabbed the rope and he gratefully shook his whole body to rid himself of dust. Ima grabbed under his chin and lead him to a root that was so luckily uprooted. He stood still while Ima used it to jump onto his back. Before Ima had turned to glance at the boy he was gone. Ima took no second thought to him not being there and turned Shadow to leave, because she knew that it was probably better that she didn't talk to him for she wouldn't of known what to say. In the distance the guy was on his horse, and with amazing agility the horse swerved to avoid the trees at a high speed.

Ima leaned to the right and shadow turned at a walk toward their camp. Once Ima reached the road she clicked with her tongue to make shadow go into a high speed canter, which then only took them 45 seconds to get back to camp. Shadow came to a sliding stop in front of the fire place. Ima jumped and walked toward Shadows tack. She looked back at him once she got to the saddle bag to see if he was looking at her. He wasn't so she grabbed a bottle out of the bag and put it in her back pocket. She reached over into the other saddle bag and grabbed a handful of grain.

"Shhhhaaaaddooowww....yooohhhooo...look what I have...," Ima held out her hand and let some of the grain fall to the ground. Shadow saw that his precious grain was being spilled onto the ground and came running up and dug his muzzle into her hand. Ima quickly grabbed the bottle out of her back pocket and spritzed some of the liquid substance on Shadow's neck. Shadow jumped back at the sudden sharp pain in his neck. Ima had managed to get one side of his neck but Shadow had caught onto her plan. He started to run wildly around the open area. Once he came by Ima again she grabbed some of his mane and used the force of his running to pounce onto his back. Ima found her seating and leaned forward to get the other side of his neck. He caught wind of something he did not like which was to the right of him. Ima caught glimpse of a figure standing behind a tree. In response to this person Shadow pitched to the left catching Ima off guard. Ima lost her seat and began to slide off of Shadow, who had started to go toward the woods. Ima was going head first but she managed to catch herself by grabbing onto his mane and whip her feet under her but the whiplash ripped Shadow's mane out of her hand and Ima fell to the ground. She hit the ground with her knees and braced her fall with her hands over her head. As she hit the ground she turned over with her hand over her head, palm side up. The first thing she saw was a large bird fly across the sky. She blacked out after that.

"ughhh...nnnn.....huh..." Ima sat bolt upright. She grabbed her head and groaned with pain as it reminded her of what happened the night before. Ima looked around her and found she was in a little room. She had been covered with a blanket, which now she was not, now that she sat up. Her hair was in her face and she noticed her head band was missing. Her hand went straight to her forehead. ' Oh dear god it's showing...where is my headband? Where is it...???' Ima thought as she held one hand over her forehead. Ima looked around her then she turned around to find a person was sleeping with their head in their hand, their face was covered by a thin sheet of hair, which moved when they breathed. Ima breathed in suddenly as the persons head rose from its place. It was a man, he had a red mark across his face from his hand being pressed against it for so long. His long black hair fell over his left eye, and he had a long scar running down his neck. He looked at Ima and quickly looked away as a blush pink flushed his cheeks. Ima wondered what he was blushing about and she noticed she didn't have any clothing on. She turned quickly and grabbed the blanket and wrapped it around her. She made a knot in the front and stood quickly. Once she stood she quickly sat again as the pain went to her head, yet again. She grabbed her head and breathed in a sharp quick breathe.

The guy crawled quickly over to her and kneeled in front of her. Ima turned away from him with her hand over her forehead. "Where..where are my things...?" The man stood and held out his hand to help Ima stand, he had a gentle look about him and he seemed to smile without moving his lips. Ima hesitated and with one hand over her forehead grabbed his hand, she felt that she was in no danger. She was about to fall over again when she felt a firm, yet gentle, hand grip her around her waist. Ima opened her eyes and found the man to be quite a bit taller than her. He had a black samurai outfit with red stitching on with a red sash with black stitching. At his waist opposite of Ima was a long samurai sword that was sheathed in a black scabbard that seemed to glow. He was looking down at Ima when she made eye-contact. This time he did smile, Ima felt completely safe under his arms and yet she smiled and blushed back. Ima slowly felt the pain retreat and pushed the man away. She leaned up against the wall and looked up toward the ceiling. The whole world was spinning around her. For some reason a flash of her horse flew threw her mind. "gasp Shadow!" Ima looked around her. The man held out his hand again. Ima took it and he lead Ima out the door and into the sunlight which blinded her. She let go of his hand and covered her face. The bright sun hurt her eyes and she felt her head start to hurt again. She felt a hand around her waist again as she started to stagger. Ima this time let him lead her to a tree which had all of her clothes on the branches. Ima quickly gathered her things and went back to the hut. She walked in then turned around to be face to chest with the guy.

"Ummm...IM going to change now OK..." Ima said closing the door. She turned around and took off her blanket and quickly put on her clothes, she noticed that they were clean and very soft,compared to before. She grabbed her head band and put it on over her forehead. "There its covered." She said as she flipped her hair over her ear. She slipped on her boots and opened the door. She stopped short to see the broad back of the man. He slightly turned his head, "It's ok I'm dressed." Ima said as she noticed he was blushing a little. He turned and held out his hand to Ima. Ima looked at his out stretched hand." I'm fine now. I can walk." He lowered his hand and smiled, he had a beautiful smile that seemed to calm his face and melt into Ima's heart. He looked happy that Ima was well, He flipped his head to the side, as if he wanted Ima to follow him, his hair fell over his eyes. Ima walked behind him until she saw a large pasture with two horses in a field grazing, on top of a hill. Ima saw a brown horse with a small head and a large white horse. The guy had stopped and looked back at Ima, she had a big smile across her face which made him smile too. Ima put her fingers to her lips and blew a giant whistle which seemed to make the horses jump. Shadow's head flew up and he gave off his loud whistle and thundered down the hill and toward Ima whinnying. Ima walked up to him and found herself remembering a memory from when she was young. 5 years in the past.

"Moooother...Mother where are you? I have to show you something..." Ima ran into her kitchen to find it deserted." MOOOOTHER, " Ima ran into the pantry to find a large woman with very large simple eyes and her hair in a bun. " Tanza where is Mother?" Ima asked in an exasperated tone." Oh miss Ima, She went to the well to get water...What's wrong...?" Ima ran out of the pantry and right into her mother. The buckets of water flew into the air and with one hand Ima's mother caught them with grace and persition. A tiny amount of water splashed to the ground. Ima's mother let out a big sigh, then she turned on Ima. " IMA ...you need to be much more careful. Why are you running around so franticly for, and in the house at that...tisk tisk" She flicked her finger in front of Ima. Ima grabbed onto the finger and pulled herself up onto her tiptoes and grinned. " Mother, I have something to show you..." Ima gave a big grin. She pulled her finger out of Ima's grip and set the bucket on the counter.

" Tanza..." Ima's mother said in a loud voice. The pudgy woman stuck her head out of the pantry. " Start the water, I will return soon ." The woman nodded and returned to the pantry. Ima's mother held out her hand and Ima took it with a big smile. On the way to their destination Ima observed her mother. She was very beautiful, her long dark hair was always pulled behind her but she looked lovely when it was down and around her like a soft warm blanket. She walked gracefully even though she was being pulled by Ima's ever faster little legs. Ima led her around the barn and through the pasture. The long grass tickled Ima's toes and she giggled. " Ima Where are you taking me? I need to make supper." Ima's mother said with a calm and gentle voice. "We are nearly there mother just have Patience." Ima said with a little laugh. They reached the other side of the pasture and the beginning of the wood. "Ima why are we going into the wood...? Are you going in here alone? There are millions of things in here that can kill you. I forebode we go any further!" Ima's mother said in a more demanding tone and stopped. Ima let go of her mothers hand and whistled into the distant dark forest. " Mother can i keep him...?" A very large and handsome horse trotted out of the darkness. His coat, which glistened in the forest light, was all white with a black nose and black socks on his hoofs, at the tips of his mane and tail were also black, while the rest was white. Ima's mother stood in the distance with a very extremely surprised, almost-about-ready-to-faint look about her. " Mother... please..." Ima said as the horse walked up behind her and put his large nose over her shoulder. Her mother looked at the way she was stroking the velvet nose of the huge animal that towered over her daughter. Ima's eyes trailed to her hand and looked into the great almond eye and she could feel herself being melted inside. Ima's mother noticed the bond that had formed between the very odd pair. She remembered when she was young she never was aloud to have a pet. She could remember her mother telling her that horses were meant for the men to ride. She wasn't about to let the same thing happen to her daughter. Back at the barn

Ima is sitting on the side of the stall watching her new friend eat his grain greedily. Ima's mother walked in and saw the love in her daughters eyes. Ima turned her head toward her mother and thanked her with a big grin. Her mother grabbed her off of the side of the stall and helped her get her new pet into the large field. He seemed to like it because he pranced around the open area. Ima's mother picked her up and took her inside to sleep. The next morning Ima woke and ran out side to see her father talking to a man, next to the pasture fence. Ima walked up to the fence and leaned over it she looked around for her horse and not seeing him put her fingers to her mouth and blew out her mouth a very loud whistle. She heard a loud whistle and she saw her horse run over a hill and down to the fence greeting her with loud grunt. Ima mounted the fence and greeted her horse with a hug and a pat on the neck. Ima looked at her father and the man look over at Ima and her horse. The man walked over to her and gave Ima a cheese grin. "So what is your beautiful horses name?" he asked Ima not once taking his eyes off of the horse. Ima looked at the ground, she was thinking about what she was going to tell him. She hadn't thought about a name yet. " I...dont really know yet sir...I think i will call him somthing...like...Gasp I know I will call him Shadow." Ima said with a grin looking at Shadow.

Ima felt a hand on her shoulder and was pulled out of her memory. She turned around at the sudden distraction, knocking the man's hand away. He pulled away and stood back. "I'm so sorry. You caught me day dreaming." Ima held out her hand ," I'm Ima." He took her hand and shook it gentle. Shadow walked up between the two and broke the hold. " Shadow! Now stop that!" Ima said pushing his head away and slapping his haunches. Shadow walked away toward the other horse. The man started to walk away and Ima ran to catch up to him. "Where are you going?"Ima asked as he didn't answer her."Hey are you ever going to answer me? Is it my breath? I have tooth paste in my pack...thats right ...do you know where my stuff is? If you do i will go and get it and be----" She was cut off by the man turning and pressing his finger on her lips. "Shhhhh" he whispered. He gestured for Ima to follow him. She did so and ended up by a little shed with a door that had been carved. The carving on the door was of a dragon it had horns and saber teeth. It seemed to smile with its toothy mouth. Ima smiled when she saw the door. The guy looked at her questionably. "oh umm well it seems to be smiling at me...so umm i thought it was cute." The guy smiled and turned the door knob. He held out his hand gesturing for Ima to stop. She did so and waited outside the door for him to get back. She heard movement inside the shed and she listened to it. There was more than one pair of feet moving around inside and Ima was surprised to see the guy walk out with her belongings. He had Ima's saddle,bridle, saddle bags, and saddle blankets. She took them from him and nodded in thanks. She wasn't able to hold them for long because of her weakened condition. The guy took the saddle and saddle bags and let Ima hold the bridle and blankets "Thank you" Ima repeated. She walked over to where she left Shadow and put the tack on him and held onto the reins underneath Shadows chin.

"Ummm well I would like to ask you so many things but I think I already know most of my questions answers." The guy looked questioningly at Ima. " Well for one, you can't speak?..." He nodded his head and gripped his throat, Ima could see the scar which was longer than his hand was wide. "umm you were the one who brought me here...?" He nodded again. " and you are the one I saw when I fell off of Shadow," At this he shook his head, looking a little confused. "Oh?... Well then, And I think that you are the one who stole my horse..." He looked at her and shook his head. Ima frowned, He made movements with his hands, " you have....a hang nail.. no sharp teeth.. Big, huge...scary OH somthing scary...ok I'm right "He pointed at Shadow. "Shadow?" He nodded. " Shadow was in danger from the scary thing?" He nodded and made a shelter with his hands " And you were taking him to ... uh a house.. a shed? shelter....?SAFETY. WOO HOO I love this game..." Ima said striking the air with her fist. He grinned his beautiful smile and gave Ima an O.K. sign with his fingers. " Well I thank you for every thing you have done but I do believe that you have done far too much for me to stay any longer." Ima held out her hand for the guy to shake.

He hesitated and then grabbed Ima's hand in a firm and yet gentle grip. She shook his hand and then tried to take her hand away, but he would not let go. Ima laughed a small "heh heh", and tried a little harder for him to let go, but he would not let go. He held her hand stead fast and turned it over so her palm was up. "What are you doing...?" Ima asked knowing full well what he was looking at. He used his other hand to touch the scar gently and he tilted his head up to look painfully into Ima's eyes. Ima could tell he was trying to look into her soul and see what had provoked her to take her own life. Ima knew full well that there was a wall that prevented this as did he. "I have to go...?" Ima said as she pulled her hand out of his grip. He watched Ima pull Shadow in between them and she put her foot into the stirrup and with one quick motion lifted her body into the saddle. Before she let Shadow take his leave she turned to look at the guy again. He looked taller and leaner when he stretched to his full height. "My...My name is Ima...". He lightened his glare into her soul and looked into her eyes. In her head she heard a voice that startled her " Darrian." Shadow felt her fear and started to buckle under her, dancing with fear. She kicked him into a high canter and she left into the near by path.


End file.
